System level EDA tools allow a designer to model, simulate, and analyze systems. Tools such as SOPC Builder from Altera® Corporation allow designers to create, simulate, evaluate, and refine a system design model through standard and custom block libraries. SOPC Builder from Altera® Corporation provides system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) development tools that interface hardware design flow tools that perform synthesis, placement, and routing.
Tools such as SOPC Builder allow designers to integrate previously created off the shelf components into a system design, create reusable custom components, build an interconnect fabric optimized for requirements of a system design, and generates system test bench suites. When creating a custom component, it may be desirable to allow a user to adjust parameters of an instance of the component when using a system level EDA tool. In the past, a graphical user interface would need to be hand coded by the designer of a particular component in HDL. This proved to be time consuming.
Thus, what is needed is an improved method and apparatus for parameterizing HDL code in a system level design environment.